This section is intended to introduce the reader to aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure described herein, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure described herein. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Modern electronic and electrically powered equipment are very susceptible to damage from transient line events such as power surges. These power surges can be caused by power grid loss, local transformer breakdown, switching surges and load inducing events. Typically, the most damaging high intensity power surges are those caused by lightning strikes during a storm, whether in the form of direct strikes to a power grid or as a result of the electromagnetic field of nearby strikes. Conventional devices to protect equipment from damage from surges include fuses, circuit breakers and surge suppressor devices. These devices react to the power surge event, itself, in that the protective action is not initiated until the power surge or spike reaches the device. Further, these devices are typically inadequate in protecting highly sensitive electronic equipment from the intense power level of a lightning strike. In such a scenario, the electronic equipment can already be damaged before the surge suppressor device can react.
In addition, prior attempted devices and methods have incorporated using radio frequency signals to detect lighting flashes received on typical amplitude modification (AM) radio receivers. However, these supposed lightning detecting AM receivers are subject to interference and cannot discriminate as to the source of the interference. Hence, they do not provide a reliable indication as to the source of the interference, proximity of the lightning, duration of the lightning, or eliminating a false detection. Further, such devices do not provide a method or device for automatically disconnecting power and absolutely isolating electrical equipment in anticipation of a storm, thereby providing a sufficient air gap from the leads of the equipment to the mains and ground earth.
Hence, what is needed is a LEMP storm detector and safety prevention device that can detect storms several miles away, detect and prevent ambient noises/interferences from false LEMP detection, detect the proximity and duration of a storm, and automatically absolutely isolate and disconnect power to electrical equipment upon detection of an approaching storm, providing a sufficient air gap between the leads of the electrical equipment and mains, having an internal battery storage, and automatically reconnecting the leads of electrical equipment upon cessation of the storm.